Catch assembly for doors and the like



P 1969 A. FERNANDEZ ETAL CATO ASSEMBLY FDR DOORS AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 19. 1968 I.\' VEY'IURS ARTHUR FERNANDEZ BY DAV/D H. Wl/RSTER ,gw, MFWW A TTORNE Y5 United States Patent 3,466,075 CATCH ASSEMBLY FOR DOORS AND THE LIKE Arthur Fernandez, AP-27, Calle 47, Santa Juanita, Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and David H. Wurster, 27 Calle Caoba Pta. Las Marias, Santurce, Puerto Rico Filed Feb. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 706,413 Int. Cl. Ec 19/02, 19/06 US. Cl. 29219 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A catch assembly comprising a catch for mounting on a door frame and a knob member for mounting on a door and for latching coaction with the catch. The catch and the knob member may be mounted by insertion in holes of the door frame and the door, and means is provided for spreading certain parts of the catch and knob member after insertion to effectively anchor them in position.

One object of the present invention is to provide a catch assembly comprising a catch, a headed knob member and a drive plug which may be molded of plastic material such as nylon or the like, thus producing a relatively inexpensive catch assembly.

Another object is to provide a catch comprising a cylinder having a web from opposite surfaces of which retaining fingers and latch fingers extend, a headed knob member being adapted for latching coaction with the latch fingers, and the retaining fingers being adapted for spreading by the coaction of a drive plug therewith after the catch is mounted in the door frame.

Still another object is to provide the knob member with a shank which is slotted so that a drive pin driven into the slot will spread the shank in the hole of a door thereby securely anchoring the knob member with respect to the door.

A further object is to provide the shank of the knob member with serrations to more effectively accomplish anchorage.

Still a further object is to provide the web of the catch with perforations adjacent the retainer fingers and latch fingers thereof to increase their flexibility during mounting and latching operations.

With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of our catch for doors, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in our claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the four parts of our catch assembly;

FIG. 1A is a similar perspective view of a modified form of catch member;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the assembly when mounted in a door frame and door, and when the door is in closed position;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the modified catch member of FIG. 1A and a drive plug therefor prior to insertion therein;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing only the catch;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 showing only the catch and the head of the knob member; and catch member of FIGS. 1A and 2A as viewed from the line 4A-4A of FIG. -2A.

FIG. 4A is a sectional view of the line 4A of.FIG. 2A.

On the accompanying drawing we have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate in general a catch member, 12 a knob member and 14 a hollow drive plug. These three parts comprise our catch assembly and may be molded of suitable plastic material.

The catch member 10 comprises a cylinder 16 adapted to be mounted in a door frame 18. The door frame is illustrated as having a hole 20 which is counterbored as at 22, the diameter of the counterbore being such as to snugly receive the cylinder 10 which, as shown in FIG. 2, is inserted until it is stopped by a shoulder 21 between the hole 20 and the counterbore 22. At the inner end of the cylinder 16 is a two-part web 34 (perhaps best shown in FIG. 3). Four retainer fingers 24 extend from one surface thereof while a pair of latch fingers 30 extend from the opposite surface thereof. The retainer fingers 24 are provided with radially outwardly extending projections 26 while the latch fingers 30 are provided with inwardly extending projections 32.

In order to provide sufficient flexibility of the fingers 24 and 30, gaps 39 are provided between the ends of the web parts 34 as shown in FIG. 3, and a perforation 36 is provided in each web part. In effect the construction may be considered as the cylinder 16 having a single web with two perforations 36 and two perforations 37, the perforations 36 being adjacent two of the retainer fingers 24 and the perforations 37 being adjacent the other two retainer fingers and the latch fingers 30.

When the cylinder 16 is inserted in the counterbore 22 the fingers 24 spring inwardly as they are forced along the inner surface of the hole 20. Thereafter, the hollow drive plug 14 may be inserted and then driven to the position shown in FIG. 2. Its inner end will coact with the outer ends of the retainer fingers 24 to spread them or increase their diameter so that the projections 26 will penetrate the inner surface of the hole 20 and enter the material of the door frame 18. Such door frame may be formed of wood, particle board or the like, and the catch member will be effectively retained in mounted position. The drive plug 14 has a flange 28 to be struck by a hammer when driving the plug into position and to act as a stop against the left hand surface of the door frame 18 as shown in FIG. 2 in the final mounted position of the catch member.

The knob member 12 is provided with. a stop flange 38 and inner and outer shanks 40 and 46. The inner shank 40 is provided with serrations indicated :at 42 and with a cross slot 44. The outer shank 46 terminates in a head 48 which as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is tapered for the purpose of entering between the projections 32 of the latch fingers 30 and spreading them apart until the projections close in behind the head 48 as shown in FIG. 2 to retain the two main parts 10 and 12 of the catch assembly in latched position relative to each other.

A drive pin 50 is provided to enter a bore 52 of the knob member 12 and the cross slot 34 as shown in FIG. 2. The knob member is thus mounted, a hole 56 being pro vided in the door 54 to receive the shank 40. Thereafter by driving the pin 50 to the position shown in FIG. 2 the serrations 42 penetrate the surface of the hole 56 and effectively anchor the knob member in the door.

The head 48 is also rounded on its back surface adjacent the outer shank 46 as shown in FIG. 2 so that it will be obvious that the door 54 can be forced open and the head 48 will withdraw from between the projections 32, spreading them and the fingers 30 to permit unlatching. Subsequently, when the door is reclosed the pointed or tapered outer end of the head 48 will spread the fingers until the projections 32 close in behind the head to retain the assembly in latched position.

It will be noted the projections 32 are so designed with parallel adjacent surfaces 58 shown in FIG. 1 to permit some misalignment of the knob member relative to the catch member. This is particularly desirable so that the assembly can be properly mounted with the surfaces 58 in a vertical position to compensate for subsequent sag of the door relative to the door frame.

Referring to FIGS. 1A, 2A and 4A, a modified form of our invention is disclosed wherein, instead of the retainer fingers 24 and their projections 26 shown in FIG. 1, arcurate retainer fingers 24a are provided which have axially grooved outer surfaces as illustrated. These retainer fingers have a cone-shaped bevel as indicated at 26a for ready insertion into the opening 20 of the door frame 18 as shown in FIG. 2A wherein the hollow drive plug 14 is ready to be driven into position instead of being in final position as shown in FIG. 2. The cylindrical body 16 is also provided with a flange 16a to engage the door frame 18 in the installed position of FIG. 2A to limit insertion of the body.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of our catch assembly without departing from the real spirit and purpose of our invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a catch assembly for doors and the like, a catch member comprising a cylinder adapted to be received in a hole of a door frame and having a web spanning its diameter, retainer fingers extending in one direction from said web, latch fingers extending in the opposite direction from said web, and a headed knob member having a shank adapted to be received in a hole of a door and a head adapted to enter said cylinder and to spring said latch fingers apart upon closure of the door relative to the door frame, said latch fingers having projections to occupy a position behind said head upon closure of the door whereby to latch said head relative to said catch member.

2. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said web has perforations adjacent said retainer and latch fingers to increase the flexibility of said fingers.

3. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein a drive plug is received in said retainer fingers to spring them apart and thereby anchor them in said hole of the door frame.

4. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein the shank of said knob member is slotted, and a drive pin adapted to be driven into the slot to spread said shank in said hole of the door.

5. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 4 wherein the shank of said knob member is serrated for effective anchorage in said hole of the door.

6. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 2 wherein a drive plug is received in said retainer fingers to spring them apart and thereby anchor them in said hole of the door frame.

7. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 6 wherein the shank of said knob member is slotted, and a drive pin adapted to be driven into the slot to spread said shank in said hole of the door.

8. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 7 wherein the shank of said knob member is serrated for effective anchorage thereof in said hole of the door.

9. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said retainer fingers of said cylindrical member have projections for penetrating the inner surface of said hole.

10. A catch assembly in accordance with claim 9 wherein said retainer fingers have axially grooved outer surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,370,327 2/ 1945 Rosan -83 2,946,612 7/ 1960 Ahlgren 29217 FOREIGN PATENTS 473,263 3/ 1929 Germany. 1,363,849 5/1964 France.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner ROBERT L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

